THE CALGARY ZOO

Corinne Hannah, Head Horticulturist for the Calgary Zoo, commented, “We couldn’t be happier with the way these projects turned out. The workmanship of Ananda Landscapes is exceptional and both projects look fantastic. We can’t wait for the weather to improve so everyone can come down and see them!”

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Ananda Landscapes completed custom landscaping work for the Zoo’s Dorothy Gardens surrounding the new armillary sundial art piece and their garden gazebo. The armillary sundial was built in 2008 and placed at the Calgary Zoo as a 100th anniversary project for the Calgary Horticultural Society, and the Zoo’s gazebo is one of Calgary’s top locations for garden weddings.
“We would not hesitate to hire Ananda Landscapes for a third project at the Zoo,” concluded Hannah. “They were great at communicating with our staff, they were reliable, and they were safe in their business practices; something that is very important to us here at the Zoo.”

Barbara and Ron Law

We were impressed with Ron’s Approach, he came to our house for an interview and explained who he was, he was very interested in learning about us.

The team were here every day and worked hard. We will be hiring Ananda Landscapes again and getting the yard done in the spring.

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Ananda Landscapes complete garden landscaping worked with Barb and Ron Law to ensure that they can achieve their ideal lifestyle.

Ron designed the space with greenery in mind, the couple love being surrounded by the beauty that nature beholds. The space was designed within a long term plan, Barb and Ron are excited to add more to their space next spring. Ananda works with your budget and can revisit your yard adding things incromentally of you choose.

Scott & Charis Birchall

We really like to entertain so we wanted a space to have big groups of people over as we both have large families. Ananda actually worked for my parents starting about 25 years ago and have continued to do work for them.

The crew were fantastic as they were always early, stayed late, worked really hard and were ultimately really pleasant to be around.

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Ananda was great at recommending ideas and concepts for our space, such as the lighting that they added. It was an unexpected feature that we’ve really come to love and has added a lot to our yard.

Brent & Janna

The construction process was fast – Ron and Jessica were truly a pleasure to work with. It really feels like we’ve added another room to our house.

Now a few of our friends who were also looking for a landscaper are considering Ananda based on our yard and our experience with them.

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We had an idea of what we wanted to do with our back yard, but, it needed some work. After doing some searches, Ananda kept coming up and looked the most professional.

The Millers Outdoor Living Space

When we met with Ron, he talked about extending our living space into the background. This is exactly what we wanted: a peaceful place to escape to in the middle of the city for entertaining, reading and relaxing. From our travels, we decided we wanted this relaxing concept. We used Ananda Landscaping and have been thoroughly impressed with them.

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The designer was able to meet all of our needs, finding the correct balance between our wants and the space we had to work with. The work crew was respectful – all of our neighbours commented on how nice they were. We would highly recommend Ananda Landscapes. We’re even using them for our front yard next year!

Jarrett Z’s Outdoor Beer Tap

I’m extremely happy with the space, we really didn’t know what to expect, but Ananda certainly delivered a spectacular product. Our favourite parts are the beer tap (of course!), the coziness and the feel of the cedar along with the fire and the accent lighting.

It really provides a warm atmosphere. At night, the true beauty shows with the lighting.

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The attention to detail and the quality of the product was really surprising to us. We were really impressed. It’s a place for our family to be able to be outdoors together. Ananda did a great job of bringing the interior of our home outside, mixing rustic with modern.

Nelson & Paola’s Outdoor Living Space

We chose to use Ananda primarily because of our past experience with them. They had worked on our previous house to correct a number of mistakes that had resulted from another landscaper. Because of that positive experience, we decided to use them in our new house and completely redo our landscaping.

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We started by choosing some pictures that we had seen and ideas that we liked. As we met with our designer, we passed all that information onto her. We took elements from our previous yard as well, wanting to recreate some of that oasis that we had before. Other than the barbecue, I would have to say the pond is probably my favourite, I just like the sound of the running water, the fact that it looks very natural as if it had always been there. There are so many great areas in the yard. I’d have to say the eating area is another favourite, because you’re right next to the pond. When people come over and ask who did our yard, we make sure to tell them it was Ron with Ananda Landscapes.

Janet’s Welcoming Backyard

The first place I’ll start is just the experience coming out to the backyard and hearing the sound of the water. That always brings me a sense of peace, joy and great delight too. I love watching the birds land and drink – it’s a really welcoming space. We’ve used every square inch of this yard to make it functional and beautiful.

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The backyard turned out more beautiful than I imagined from the drawings. I knew that Ron and his team would do an amazing job, and it turned out way beyond what I imagined it would look like. How can you argue against something that’s impeccable?

Jen & Terry’s Outdoor Oasis

The experience was great; they took in all of our suggestions and concerns, as well as bringing new ideas that we had never even imagined.

We knew we wanted a kid-friendly backyard for our two children. Ananda was really friendly, respectful, non-intrusive and a pleasure to work with!

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We decided to consider Ananda Landscapes after they finished a project at my sister’s house, and had a very positive experience. So we contacted Ananda about a landscaping project at our new home.

Catherine’s Customized Backyard

I decided to have some work done to my outdoor space to do more outdoor entertaining during the summertime.

The water features are fantastic and the fire bowl is great. Ron and the entire staff were impressive to work with.

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Ananda Landscapes brought the ideas, which was great. Although, when I come to my backyard, I still feel like it’s my backyard.Everything was always cleaned up and I’m delighted with the outcome.

The Strong Familiy’s Interactive Yard

Wow! Now we can appreciate the full extent of your landscape design.

We are thrilled that we have an interactive yard.

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Our family’s living area and activities have gone beyond what we imagined. Within our new “room” there is a continual combination of play and reflection.

We look forward to more landscaping in the future.

~ The Strong Family

Nan & Brian’s Water Feature

I would like to say what an extraordinary experience my husband Brian and I have had dealing with Ananda Landscapes from start to completion and beyond.

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We were impressed with how Ron, the owner was being with us right from our first “interview” with him, especially when we found out he was interviewing us to find out if he wanted his company to work with us!

We made a multitude of changes before any work was begun and Ron and our designers were extremely patient, drawing up no less than four variations from the initial schematic. No question we had was left unanswered, and believe me, we asked a ton of questions! Then, even once work had begun, we made more changes and no one working batted an eye lid. The crew’s efficiency, cleanliness and pride in their work was something to behold as our yard unfolded in just under four weeks. Everything was hand done.

My husband and I work from home and we had a bird’s eye view of the day to day progress from our kitchen window. Even our neighbours commented on how tidy, friendly and considerate the crew was.

We now have a beautiful water feature that has transformed our yard into a magical and harmonious haven from the stress of our busy lives. From the day it was finished the yard began to work its magic on my husband. This is a man who formerly was a workaholic and had virtually no balance in his life. Taking time out to sit and be quiet was unheard of for him. Yet, everyday (with the exception of pouring rain) in the month since our yard was completed my husband has sat out on our deck quietly and peacefully “being” with the beauty that now exists. He has taken a keen interest in all the plants, wanting to know their names and how big they’ll grow, and even more miraculous, I actually found him out weeding, happily sitting on the ground, perfectly content.

To witness that was worth every penny we spent!

Though the yard is finished, there have been very slight changes and loose ends to tie up and even these have been treated with as much care as the rest of the project. This is what I meant when I said “and beyond”. Since we have a water feature, it is reassuring to know that Ananda will provide the maintenance of it for us as the years go by. Knowing that we now have a long term relationship with this company and can call anytime for assistance is the finishing piece that sets our minds at ease.

In terms of outstanding customer service, I cannot praise Ananda enough. Thank you everyone at Ananda!

~ Nan Thibert

Sander’s Outdoor Kitchen

In a world where customer service seems to come second only to poor craftsmanship – Ananda Landscapes was a change as refreshing as a cold beer on a hot day.

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Ron, Jessica, Priscilla, Dave, Nick and Craig were as professional, artistic, courteous, and helpful as you could wish for. It says a lot when my family said that they missed the guys after they left.

The outdoor kitchen patio, pergola, and west side steps and planter boxes were built beyond our expectations and we look forward to Phase II in the spring when we finish our mini-sanctuary.

~ Sander Steer (Shaw Cablesystems)

Michael & Jean’s Front Yard Landscape

We would not hesitate to recommend Ron to anyone looking for a high quality, no surprises landscape and deck solution.

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My wife and I contacted Ron Jones of Ananda to landscape both our front and backyards. Our front yard was a nondescript lawn with a few shrubs. Our backyard contained a small high deck with a railing and a poorly laid out garden and lawn.

We initially contacted Ron to create landscape plans for the back and front. Ron was very knowledgeable and worked with us to create a complete plan that both laid out the hardscape and plant material. The plan was accompanied with an estimate that accurately captured the final costs.

With the plan in hand we were able to persuade our neighbours to adopt a common dry riverbed theme in the front. The front yard has turned out spectacularly. In the backyard we replaced the high, small deck with a larger deck lowered to within two risers of the ground. We also replaced the existing lawn and garden with raised flower beds and a brick patio. The backyard has become an extension of our living area.

We are very happy with the work done by Ron and his team. The work was accomplished in a timely manner, the final costs matched the estimates, the premises were always left in a neat and tidy condition and the workmanship was excellent.

~ Michael & Jean

Kurt & Liz’s Multifunctional Backyard

One of Ron’s greatest skills seems to be listening to the various desires of his clients and transforming these wishes along with his own creative touches into a final product of the highest quality.

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When my wife and I initially met with Ron, we had some vague ideas as to what we envisioned for our back yard. Given that we have two young children, we wanted functionality for visiting with our friends without sacrificing play area for the children. Ron was not only able to conceptualize our thoughts on paper but provided his own creative touches with the design of the patio stones and the beautiful shrubs, flowers and trees. One of Ron’s greatest skills seems to be listening to the various desires of his clients and transforming these wishes along with his own creative touches into a final product of the highest quality.

Because the developer of our home provided some basic landscaping such as fencing and sod, it was very enlightening to see Ron and his team in contrast to the landscapers hired by our developer.

Ron outlined the process through which he achieves the highest quality product ensuring that he had addressed all of our concerns. Without sacrificing quality, Ron was able to complete our yard in about four days generally arriving before I left for work (around 7:00 AM) and still working upon my return (approx. 5:30 PM). The work ethic and pride of workmanship stood in stark contrast to the various other landscapers ourselves and our neighbors dealt with over the course of the summer (and are still dealing with into the fall).

We have received numerous compliments on our yard, but more importantly we now have our own little oasis for spending time together as a family and enjoying the outdoors. My wife and I would welcome any queries or questions that any of Ron’s potential customers may have.

~ Kurt & Liz Pedersen

The Dyer’s Backyard Transformation

Without qualification we give testimony that Ron, Ananda Landscaping, the staff and the skillful tradesmen are one of the most ethical groups with whom we have ever had the pleasure of working.

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When positive things result from serendipity one has to be exceptionally grateful. Out of curiosity my wife and I attended a presentation sponsored by the Calgary Horticultural Society that focused on “Ponds” and “Pondless Water Features”. This half-day seminar was conducted by Ron Jones of Ananda Landscapes. We were so impressed with his casual, thoughtful manner and the thoroughness of his knowledge and understanding of water features we invited him to prepare a proposal for transforming our backyard.

The developmental process was conducted in an intelligent, understandable, sensitive manner that creatively incorporated our thoughts, preferences and input. Throughout the dialogue about design, Ron and his designer had a gentle manner in developing and maintaining their affiliation with us as clients. We never felt hurried, pressured or coerced during the design process. On completion of the design we proceeded with the installation.

Once the construction of the water feature commenced we were extremely impressed with the crew of workers. They worked as a team and shared the work responsibilities in a most commendable manner. They were reliable, consistent and dedicated. A strength of the company is the emphasis made on establishing and maintaining a positive relationship with the client. All of the young men working on the project were polite, courteous, cheerful and respectful. It was a delight to have them around.

There is no question that the workers approached the challenges with dignity and took great satisfaction in the perfection of their accomplishments each day. They took their time to ensure that things were done properly and congruently with the design specifications. Another most remarkable characteristic of their endeavours was displayed at the end of the day when they spent as much time as was required to totally clean the yard, the existing deck, the sidewalks, driveway and even the street. This shows an unusual commitment to doing things “right”. When the feature was completed it was evident that there was an undisputed correlation between the high degree of pride that the construction team had in their work and the exceptional quality of the project.

Without qualification we give testimony that Ron, Ananda Landscaping, the staff and the skillful tradesmen are one of the most ethical groups with whom we have ever had the pleasure of working.

~ John Dyer

Geraldine’s Pond & Waterfall

We now have a beautiful waterfall and pond and even more importantly we have made several new friends. We hope that we may have the opportunity to share our backyard adventure with others through a seminar that Ron may consider giving at our home.

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For several years I have wanted to have a waterfall and pond in our backyard. A friend who has a pond and waterfall told me they are quite a lot of work and suggested looking into a pondless waterfall. Well, the next issue of the Calgary Horticultural Society newsletter arrived and there was a Saturday morning seminar being offered on pondless waterfalls by Ron Jones from Ananda Landscapes so I registered myself and my husband in the seminar, which was held at the site of a pondless waterfall that Ananda Landscapes had developed in the Edgmont area. I was impressed by the waterfall and my husband and I had several discussions about it and decided to contact Ron and invite him over for a consultation. During our lengthy meeting with Ron it became clear that I was not interested in a pondless waterfall but a pond and waterfall. Ron had a gentle way of developing a relationship with us and did not pressure us or use hard-sell tactics and demonstrated great patience.

Ron had one of his design consultants contact us and she listened to our needs and wants with great care and guided us in the creation of the design. Her first drawing was stunning and we could not quite believe that our backyard would look like that. We studied the drawing for a few days and it occurred to us that the shed in our backyard would stick out like a sore thumb. Shannon came by again and we discussed possible changes and a few days later there was a new design that was even more stunning than the first. The quoting process was managed with great care and honesty.

The work on Ananda’s creation began after Thanksgiving of this year (2009). A crew of 4, 5 and sometimes 6 young men began the work. Since we do not have a back alley, it was not possible to use a bobcat and everything had to be dug by hand. What a job! Every time we looked out at the crew they were smiling, laughing, joking around and sometimes “boogying” to their music. They were reliable, they took pride in their work, and they were good natured. Ron has high expectations of his staff’s ability to build rapport with the client and they did not disappoint him. It was a pleasure to see them every day. Around the middle of November they wanted to finish off their day’s work and it was getting late and it was dark. We had barbecued our dinner and had finished eating when the last crew member was about to leave. He had worked a long day and then came over to help my husband clean up the barbecue tools and cover the barbecue. Another day one of the crew members took a bag of compost from me and put it into our barrel. They were all so caring and kind.

Our pond and waterfall, complete with lighting, pergola, new seating area and newly edged beds, will be ready for the spring. The remaining landscaping and planting will occur in the spring of 2010 and we are looking forward to living in our backyard next summer.

I noticed on one of Ananda Landscapes’ trucks that Ron was awarded the “Business Ethics” award in 2008. There could not have been a more worthy recipient. We now have a beautiful waterfall and pond and even more importantly we have made several new friends. We hope that we may have the opportunity to share our backyard adventure with others through a seminar that Ron may consider giving at our home.

~ Geraldine Dyer

The Hulatt’s Waterfall

I have no hesitation at all in recommending Ron and Ananda for any water feature project. We are so proud of our water feature that we would be happy to show it off to anyone who is thinking of doing a similar project.

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In May 2002 we moved into our new home in Valley Ridge and began planning our landscaping project with a contractor ready to start work early 2003. Little did we know that we were about to embark upon a lengthy frustrating journey. We have survived with our health intact but our bank account somewhat lighter than expected.

The first contractor came highly recommended and finished the front yard in October 2002 but the experience of a salesperson who continually over promised and under provided left us jaded. Also their plan was to access the back yard on the low side of the house where the gap between the houses in narrow. This would require the bobcat to drive over the neighbour’s concrete pad with risk of damage. As soon as we realized this we decided it was time to switch contractors.

Our second choice also came with a recommendation and was a smaller family sized company. They did a good job in the end, though they had to access the back of the house by driving over the already landscaped front portion of the house requiring it to be redone at the end of the project. We did however fall victim to what is a common practice of a contractor starting a job, to ensure the job is theirs, but then being unable to complete all the work that they have contracted to do. As a result the contractor showed up when he realized our patience was wearing thin, do just enough to pacify us and then disappear again. A job that started in spring 2003 took all summer to get completed. The primary contractor sub-contracted the waterfall part of the project and everything worked fine for the first year but then it developed some leaks during the summer of 2004. The sub-contractor tried some superficial repairs and went onto explain that he had been pressured by the primary contractor to keep to a very low budget. Whether this was true or not we never found out but it certainly did not endear us to the waterfall contractor who had obviously compromised his own standards.

We were now again on our own to sort out the waterfall problem. One of our neighbours spoke highly of a company called Ananda Landscaping. Ananda had done their landscaping and what impressed us was that the landscaper had followed up periodically after the job to ensure everything was as expected. We contacted Ron at Ananda and gave him the go ahead to pull out the existing waterfall and pond and completely redo it properly. Ron gave us a quotation which was certainly more than expected but we also had the confidence that he would deliver on his promises. I have to say that Ananda exceeded our expectations. Quality work was performed and within the 2 week time frame that was laid out. The after sales service has been exemplary. A new type of transformer was placed on the waterfall lighting system and this failed twice. Both times Ananda promptly showed up and replaced the transformer and it is now working perfectly.

The waterfall/pond system has spectacular lighting, aquatic plants and a number of fish and it is our pride and joy. The annual Stampede Block Party in July always ends up in our backyard and we socialise well into the small hours of the morning enjoying the ambiance created by the sound of running water and the subtle lighting.

I have no hesitation at all in recommending Ron and Ananda for any water feature project. We are so proud of our water feature that we would be happy to show it off to anyone who is thinking of doing a similar project.

All’s well that ends well….thanks to Ananda.

~ Edgar Hulatt

Doug & Cher’s Retreat at Home

Ron explained to us at our first meeting that the word Ananda translated meant “bliss” – truly this is what our yard has been transformed into – an oasis of bliss!

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“Bringing your Retreat home” – This is precisely what Ron, Jen, Brian, Johnnie, Nick, Dave and Alison (our apologies to any crew we missed!) have accomplished at our home. The front and back yard were standard suburban spaces – the obligatory fir tree in front and a rectangular patch of grass in back – boring and not user-friendly.

The change is absolutely magical! The front yard is terraced with graceful curves, lighting and plants that will bring colour and interest throughout the year (and not one blade of grass to mow!) Our back yard is truly an escape from the stresses of daily living. We are enjoying a soothing waterfall and pond feature – which a large variety of birds are thrilled with as well! The huge trees that the crew struggled with to plant have given us instant privacy – making our space tranquil and peaceful.

The crew was a delight – professional and extremely hard-working – but what stood out in our minds was how they all seemed to truly enjoy and take great pride in the job at hand (as well as have some good laughs!) We and all of our neighbours greatly appreciated the effort made by the crew to leave the job site neat and tidy.

Ron explained to us at our first meeting that the word Ananda translated meant “bliss” – truly this is what our yard has been transformed into – an oasis of bliss!

The Myers’ Backyard Getaway

From start to finish our yard was completed in just over two weeks. We could see from the beginning that his team of professionals not only enjoyed their work but were true artisans.

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I am writing to let you know how very pleased I was to take the water gardening course offered through the Calgary Horticultural Society and presented by Ron Jones of Ananda Landscaping. I had installed a small pond and waterfall and was looking for some information on how to maintain and perhaps expand my existing pond. When my friend and myself first entered Ron’s backyard for the course we were totally amazed. Even though for the lot size and location it should have been an ordinary yard, the waterfalls, pond and plants made one feel as if we were in the most gorgeous wilderness setting. Ron Jones himself impressed us both as a person who was both knowledgeable and passionate about designing waterfalls and ponds. We left with knowledge about how to construct and maintain our own water features.

I, however, was so impressed by the beauty of Ananda’s Landscaping work that I went home and showed my husband their video on water features and said we should talk to Ron Jones about building a water feature in our back yard.

We contacted Ron and discussed a plan for our back yard. He was always both very professional and personable. Once we were presented with a plan for our back yard, they were very happy to solicit feedback from us on any design changes. We didn’t think that they would be able to work on our yard until next year but due to other project delays we were happy to get a call from Ron in the fall saying that they were able to work on our yard.

From start to finish our yard was completed in just over two weeks. We could see from the beginning that his team of professionals not only enjoyed their work but were true artisans. They not only came to work early but often left very late and our yard began to be shaped from quite a nice lot on a ravine into a real relaxing retreat. Not only was I pleased with the work and the professionalism of the landscapers but I began to hear lots of positive comments about them from our neighbours not only about how beautiful the yard was looking but about the great the work of the landscapers.

As I am writing this letter on November 19, a relative balmy day, my husband has probably spent about two hours relaxing and fiddling with the bird feeders in the back yard. I kid him that he has spent more time this fall in our back yard than he has spent in the whole last ten years and that is not a lie. I am the outdoors person and usually, even on a beautiful summer day, he could be found in front of the TV or on the computer rather than being outside. Now he more often than me makes the suggestion to sit outside, even in the evening in front of our firepit which overlooks the pond and waterfall. Inside the sound of the waterfall is so very relaxing.

We have a condo in Canmore which we may now have to sell. Even though it is very relaxing in Canmore, we don’t have the sound of the beautiful waterfall which lulls us to sleep in Calgary. Today when I suggested that we go out to Canmore he said “Why it’s so beautiful here?”